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Old October 8, 2014, 09:27 AM   #26
jimbob86
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just don't have the space to butcher up a deer myself. It wouldn't be bad I guess if I had some help, but it would just be me doing it if I did have the space and tools (other than knives) required. I have done it though, but usually take it to the butcher.
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I've butchered deer at a kitchen table that would seat 4 for dinner if you did not mind rubbing elbows with your table mates .....

...as for "tools" ..... a couple of knives, a steel or fine stone, a good hacksaw, something to keep the cut meet in or on, Saran wrap, freezer paper, freezer tape, and elbow grease are all that are really necessary. Other tools make for less elbow grease, but are "nice to have" as opposed to "need to have" ...... until I obtained a motorized grinder, I used one with a hand crank- froze the burger scraps in 1 pound packages and ground it when I used it .... a PITA, but you do what you have to do until you can afford better .....

I have a lot more tools now that make the job easier, than I did when I just started out ...... but if I lost them all, I could still get the job done ...... it's the skills that are priceless.
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Old October 8, 2014, 12:55 PM   #27
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OOPS!!!
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Old October 8, 2014, 02:13 PM   #28
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Get the basic gear and do it your self you get your deer back and a better product every time. We always process our own but couple years ago one of the guys said I'll take it to the processor and pay for it. Ok no problem. The place cut it up just like beef with band saw bone in and tallow on the cuts. They sawed it partially froze which is a good way to do it with saw but since they did not remove any tallow or fat it was all over the meat surface. I gave most of it away. To me deer fat and tallow is inedible. The place is my go to for beef and hog butchering but I will never have a deer done there again. Live and learn.

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Old October 8, 2014, 06:50 PM   #29
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I have encountered a hand full of people who detest venison. I am certain this is due wholly to improper processing and or preprocessing handling. It really gets my goat! Band saws and game do not go together whatsoever! Fat also should be totally eliminated - it is NOT good eats!

In fact it infuriates me the way that animals are mis handled here in town at certain times of the year. I am not naming names, or pointing fingers (yes I am), but these are deer hung up at a local motel, where the hide is left on for DAYS in 70 deg weather or warmer. You can't tell me that the guys who do this have any intention of eating that garbage. But I am sure they have no problem giving it away to unwary friends and acquaintences.

I once accepted a doe from an acquaintance that said he really didn't need the meat. If he could get some jerky from it he would be happy. So he showed up with it and we hung it in my shop. Don't remember now if it was skinned, but at any rate the cavity was fly blown, and maggots streamed out of the femural arteries. Fricking gack! What a jack wagon!!! Who does that?????

While I am on this rant...can anyone tell me the reasoning for hanging a deer by its neck?
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Old October 8, 2014, 07:26 PM   #30
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I have encountered a hand full of people who detest venison
My wife is one. I once substituted regular hamburger for deerburger in chili just to see if she would notice and even in chili she could tell the difference. The only venison I've been able to get her to eat without complaining is when she accidently ate my venison jerky instead of pork jerky. She didn't notice the difference in that.

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Old October 8, 2014, 07:46 PM   #31
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I have encountered a hand full of people who detest venison
I used to have a neighbor who told me that quite often, until I told her every "hamburger" she had ever eaten at my house was venison.

She then decided "it's really not that bad"
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Old October 8, 2014, 08:28 PM   #32
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Some people say that just because they don't know any better...it's the bambi syndrome. But others have had a bad experience and truly believe that all venison is terrible based on that. Again - they don't know any better, thanks to some jack wagon that had no respect for what they put on someones plate.

Ok - rant over....

I think that whether you use a processor or not, it is not a matter of right or wrong. But if a person does use a processor, he or she should insist on using one who does not employ the use of a band saw, at the very minimum. If they want quality meat anyway. My opinion...
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Old October 8, 2014, 08:42 PM   #33
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Originally Posted by Barnacle Brad
....While I am on this rant...can anyone tell me the reasoning for hanging a deer by its neck?

I've done it both ways....the advantage to hanging by the neck is the rear quarters can be easily removed intact without the the weight shifting as on a gambrel and falling. This is if the head is of no value and will be discarded with the rest of the carcass.

If I'm doing a buck that will go to the taxidermist, it's easier to save the cape by using a gambrel hanging from the quarters.
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Old October 8, 2014, 09:28 PM   #34
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I think the neck thing started with "Let it drain down and out". I always figured that by the time I got it out of the woods, it was pretty much done draining. I would guess most commercial butchers mix meat when making sausage and and other products. It would be costly to just fire up the vat for a few pounds of sausage. I could not agree more about not putting bone in the freezer. What ever the deer was eating stays in the fat and bone marrow. If the deer was eating a lot acidic browse, the marrow and fat will give the meat a bitter taste. One year I killed a buck in full rut. Not the first time, but the odor was REALLY strong. You could smell it when you cooked the frozen meat. I have a cap on my truck and when I opened the back door it was strong for over a week. It is possible this is the "Wild taste" some people talk about.
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Old October 8, 2014, 10:37 PM   #35
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"Let it drain down and out"
Ok...yet the femural arteries are severed in the pelvic area. The hams have the most mass, therefore the most blood. The next largest vessels of import run to the head. When you factor in the skinning process, that is started when field dressing and hams are partially skinned at that point.

Now let me see if I can tie all this together...

I remove the lower legs fore and aft, in the truck bed and continue skinning the hind qtr to below the hock, then transfer to gambrel which conveniently has hooks at either end for insertion into the hocks. Next the animal is hoisted and tied off about even with my chin. Now it is easy for me to skin across the rump and cut off the tail, pull the hide down the back and skin the front qtrs, finishing at the neck. Cutting the head off now opens the veins and arteries there. The belly skin is cut back from the pelvis and along the edge of the backstrap down to the ribs. Now I can find the femural arteries and unclog them of coagulated blood, then with the heal of my palm, I can apply pressure to the meat and force fluid out of them. The blood drains down from the ham and down from the front qtrs to the opened vessels in the neck.

Then as far as breaking the carcass down, I first remove the shoulders. This exposes the entire backstraps which are removed next followed by the tenderloins and all meat from neck and ribs worthy of processing. The only remaining meat is the hams. They are broken down by filleting the meat away from the H bone and exposing the ball joint. When the ball joint is severed, there is usually a little more tissue to cut through to free the ham entirely. The weight of the rib cage helps create separation at the ball joint. Both hams can be worked simultaneously so that they are freed up at once, dropping the rib cage to the floor.
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Old October 9, 2014, 09:36 AM   #36
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re: "let it drain down and out"

If you shot the deer through the lungs, it died because it bled to death: lack of blood (pressure) to move oxygen to the brain .... It's pretty well done bleeding by the time you get to it, and certainly by the time you field dress it.

As for
Quote:
the advantage to hanging by the neck is the rear quarters can be easily removed intact without the the weight shifting as on a gambrel and falling.
: a moment of forethought and a piece of rope with a hook on the end makes this a non-issue.

Skinning is so much easier head-down: the skin around the hocks is very thin, making getting started easier, and also makes just grabbing it and pulling it fruitless: it will just tear off in strips. The neck and shoulder skin is just the opposite: thick and tough, so it is hard to get started, but can be pulled on, and with pliers if need be, and will more readily hold together, coming off in one piece, like a shirt, with only minimal cuts from the knife.....
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Old October 9, 2014, 01:19 PM   #37
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I was told to hang by the neck all deer and antelope, especially antelope. The thought is that the musk glands leak and can alter the flavor of the meat. On deer if yo cut the rear legs of right away then no problem. Don't use the same knife to cut any of the meat. Wash it good before you use it again. For deer I carry dedicated pocket knife for that chore. Antelope is a different story, That whole white rump patch is one huge scent gland. Skin it out last.
As far as blood draining, any body shot causes them to die from lack of blood. Head shot, cut the throat , and hang by rear legs.
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Old October 9, 2014, 02:53 PM   #38
Barnacle Brad
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I was told to hang by the neck all deer and antelope, especially antelope. The thought is that the musk glands leak and can alter the flavor of the meat. On deer if yo cut the rear legs of right away then no problem. Don't use the same knife to cut any of the meat. Wash it good before you use it again. For deer I carry dedicated pocket knife for that chore. Antelope is a different story, That whole white rump patch is one huge scent gland. Skin it out last.
Sorry - I have to call bs on this entire post. Any musk glands come off with the hide - nothing left to "leak". Use a dedicated knife and don't let it touch any meat - this is folly. White patch is one huge scent gland - now I have heard everything. I am not trying to be mean but that is just redonkulous. How would they use that huge gland? Do the poop scoot boogie on some cactus? Stop laughing, I am serious....
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Old October 9, 2014, 07:52 PM   #39
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I'm going to process at home this fall. I've set up a hook for skinning in the garage. I have a meat saw, a vacuum sealer, a solid table and butcher block, and all the knives I need. I don't want to invest a ton of money in anything else. But I know I'm missing something.

I will buy one of the following; a hand cranked meat grinder, a smoker, or a dehydrator. Which of them should I invest in? Or what am I missing? I'm looking for food on the table with the lowest possible investment, and I know how to cook and cut.
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:21 PM   #40
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Northern tool has a #32 hand crank grinder that comes with a pulley to hook up to an electric motor if you are into DIY. Pretty robust system if you use the right motor. LEM has a foot pedal you plug the grinder into so you only have power while you stand on it. Safety first! Will post a link...or two...
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:25 PM   #41
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This rocks...
Grinder

And this...
Foot pedal

And...
Stuffing Tube

With...
Accessories
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:28 PM   #42
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Get an electric meat grinder(Good one) and delete the vacuum sealer. If you buy a cheaper one they will constantly overheat. I double wrap in Saran wrap and then stick a bunch of packs in a 2 gallon ziplock bag. The zip bags are reusable. I bought a sealer when they were just getting started. I soon got rid of it. If you look at the adds for the heavy duty sealers, one of the sales pitches usually is "Will not overheat". If you are really trying to save money, get the hand grinder. I used one for years too. Once you get your own system going you will know what to buy in the future. Not everybody is comfortable with the same equipment. I just remember seeing the meat saw on your list. Bone everything out and use a hack saw to cut the rack and head off. You can use a hacksaw to cut the lower legs off until you learn how to use a knife on them. LEM has some good stuff. I bought one of their original heavy duty grinders. I had ordered parts the other year and I don't think they make the super weight housing anymore, but they are still good.

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Old October 9, 2014, 08:32 PM   #43
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I will buy one of the following; a hand cranked meat grinder, a smoker, or a dehydrator. Which of them should I invest in? Or what am I missing? I'm looking for food on the table with the lowest possible investment, and I know how to cook and cut.
Jerky and sausage can be made in an oven or grill, in a pinch. Ground meat is not possibe without a grinder of some sort. Hand crank powered grinders are a LOT of work (I know from experience). If you plan on getting one, get a big one, that bolts to the work surface..... the armstrong powered one I have is a little Universal, and is a PITA to keep clamped to the counter when you get cranking on it .... and grinding the burger and sausage meat from one or more deer with that thing would wear a guy out ...... it's not bad at all ginding a pound or two to make dinner, but a 50 pound batch of sausage, especially after a day of skinning, quartering, cutting and wrapping? Nope.
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:39 PM   #44
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I was given a vacuum sealer ..... it's OK, and works..... I just don't like the expense of the bags ..... Saran wrap and freezer paper work better (more durable, because kids will rummage in the deep freeze, not believing you that there is NO ice cream until they have moved everything just to be sure- plastic is brittle at no degrees Fahrenheit..... Freezer paper is not, and adds a bit of padding...... ) if you know how to use them.
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:39 PM   #45
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Start with bulk sausage and graduate to a stuffer when and if you feel the need. You can build a smoker on the cheap also. If you are interested, I can share plans...
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:45 PM   #46
jimbob86
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^^^

Sausage can be stuffed by hand, too .... not as easy as using a stuffer, but you can do it ..... (hint: a wide canning funnel helps).

The grinder is the must have thing. Then a stuffer.
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:45 PM   #47
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Thanks! I got the vacuum sealer cheap years ago and never used it. I've got a good freezer in the basement. I was a line cook for about a decade and spent plenty of time grinding sausage with a solid commercial unit. Sounds like a solid home model is the way to go.

I guess I could dehydrate in the oven on low temps, and even make a smoker. Great advice, please keep it coming.
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:49 PM   #48
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I guess I could dehydrate in the oven on low temps,
I've been doing this for several years now .... it works, but ties up the oven for long periods ......

Q: "What's for dinner, dad? "

A: "Jerky stix."
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Old October 9, 2014, 08:58 PM   #49
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For jerky, you can do it in the oven, but you really need the smoke to get that classic jerky flavor.

If you decide to build a smoker, your friends and family will crown you King!

Since you like to cook, google Len Poli sausage. Great recipes. Many are for stuffed sausages, but there are bulk sausage recipes too. For sausage kits or bulk sausage try Hi Mountain
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Old October 9, 2014, 09:14 PM   #50
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I'm not cheap when it comes to guns and ammo. Otherwise I'm tighter than bark on a tree.
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